Celtics guard Marcus Smart inspired by his late older brother

Todd Westbrook was 23 years older than Marcus Smart when he died of cancer in 2004, but the Celtics' lottery pick learned some valuable life lessons in their time together.

Jim Fenton The Enterprise @JFenton_ent

WALTHAM – The tattoo on his right arm has been there for five years in memory of an older brother lost to cancer.

Marcus Smart was just a 15-year-old high school freshman when he decided to honor his late brother, Todd Westbrook.

“It says ‘Rest In Peace’ and it has a basketball with (his) No. 3 and under it, it says ‘Todd’ and it has clouds around it,’’ said Smart.

The tattoo was there throughout Smart’s high school basketball career in Texas and during two seasons at Oklahoma State University, and it will be with him now as a guard for the Celtics.

Smart was almost 10 years when his brother died at the age of 33 in January 2004 following a battle with cancer that had begun 18 years earlier.

There was a roughly a 23-year age gap between the oldest and youngest son born to Camellia Smart, and Marcus Smart looked up to Westbrook, who had been a basketball standout in high school days.

As he dealt with the illness, Westbrook provided some life lessons to his youngest brother.

“He never really allowed you to feel sorry for him,’’ said Smart on Monday afternoon. “Every time he saw me, he put a smile on his face.

“If you didn’t know who he was and what he was going through, you’d never know that he was in pain or he was struggling. But he did tell me never take any days for granted because as quickly as it was given to you, it can be taken away just as fast.’’

Smart has remembered that and he put together two superb seasons at Oklahoma State before getting drafted No. 6 by the Celtics last week.

The difficult times that Westbrook went through will not be forgotten by Smart, who heard that his older brother once checked out of a hospital and played a high school game despite having a tumor behind an eye.

“There was a game on a Friday night,’’ said Smart. “The coach looked at him and asked him, ‘What are you doing here?’ And he said, ‘I’m coming here to play.’

“His left eye was shut closed. He scored 30 that night and they said he shot over 60 percent from the field. My mom went to that game and she said she cried because it was one of the best games he’s ever played in his life.

“He’s one of my biggest inspirations. He’s my motivation every day. Everybody told him there was no way he was going to come back and play, but he still came back and played even though he had a tumor behind his left eye.

“All the odds were against him. He kept fighting. That’s my motivation. The odds are against me, but I keep fighting and I never give up because he never gave up.’’

Smart’s mother, who has two other sons (Jeff Westbrook and Michael Smart), attended the introductory press conference on Monday and recalled the relationship between her oldest and youngest sons.

“Todd could have been Marcus’s dad,’’ said Camellia Smart. “He was so much older. He was a mentor and Marcus looked up to Todd. It was, ‘Yes, sir. No, sir.’

“Todd would sit down and he would talk to all the younger brothers and explain to them what life was all about and not to take it for granted and to enjoy. It was just a beautiful thing, a beautiful relationship, beautiful.

“Marcus went to see Todd at the hospital, but Todd had already died. He said, ‘That’s not Todd. Todd done flew away like a butterfly.’’’

Camellia Smart remembers the night when her oldest son played in the high school game after leaving the hospital.

“They called him the comeback kid,’’ she said. “He had been out with chemo treatments and then he came back. I didn’t think he was going to play much in the game because it was his first game back. But he did. He did real well.’’

The other two sons of Camellia Smart were also basketball players, but it is Marcus Smart who has made it to the NBA, joining the Celtics as a lottery pick.

“Marcus was nine years old, and me and my husband (Billy Frank Smart) and Marcus were going home,’’ said Camellia Smart, “and Marcus put his arm around us and he said, ‘Mom and dad, if the Lord bless me and when I go to the NBA, I’m going to retire you.’

“Me and my husband just looked at each other and we laughed. We said, ‘OK, baby,’ because he’s the baby. But here today to see him, I said, ‘God honored your wish. He really did.’

“People ask me today, did you ever believe Marcus would (play in the NBA)? No, I’m going to be truthful with you, no.’’

Inspired by an older brother who served as a mentor, Marcus Smart is indeed in the NBA as a member of the Celtics.

Jim Fenton may be reached at jfenton@enterprisenews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JFenton_ent.